Secular baptism ceremony urged

Some people believe non-believers are abusing the ceremony of baptism

Parents should be able to have a non-religious naming ceremony for their children, according to a Labour peer.

Lord Young of Dartington, chairman of the Baby Naming Society, has submitted a plan for an alternative to baptism to the Government committee on the family.

He is concerned that baptism is in decline and believes registrars of birth - who currently just record births - should be re-trained to conduct such ceremonies.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme he said: "Baptism is something that can only be conducted in a Church.

"Alternative ceremonies, welcoming ceremonies, for children, can be conducted anywhere the parents want."

'Important occasion'

He added: "As ordinary baptisms are declining in all churches, except perhaps the Catholic church, so there needs to be some alternative.

"The baptism is a valuable ritual and it exists in many racial minorities in Britain and it has existed for many hundreds of years.

"But now, unfortunately, it is in decline and a new ritual is needed for a very important occasion for parents and grandparents and families generally," Lord Young said.

He told the programme many families conduct ceremonies in their garden, or in a hotel, with godparents sometimes called co-parents instead.

But he believes many couples want a formal, structured ceremony conducted by an official.

'Baptism is abused'

Lord Young's comments were echoed by Nicholas Coote, the assistant secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference, who said non-religious people were abusing the ceremony of baptism.

"One has a problem in the Church when people come for a baptism and you know fairly well that they have no intention of living as Christians or bringing up their child as Christians," he said.

"If they're not believing Christians, baptism is really abused.

"I can see no objection to a secular alternative to baptism for what people call generally rites of passage, whether it's death, the naming of a baby or marriage," he said.

But it was not the state's job. It was the job of a voluntary society, he said.